Hiring the superintendent is the most important job of a school board. The superintendent selection process is increasingly being guided by paid consultants employed to work with school boards in a process to select superintendents. This qualitative study examined the selection criteria school boards use from the perspective of the professional search consultants conducting search in a rural region of a northwest state. Participants engaged in a primary interview, as well as a several follow up interviews over a two-month period. The purpose of this study was to develop a description of superintendent selection criteria boards use in this region. Descriptions revealed common themes in the superintendent selection process. The themes are: 1. Boards use subjective criteria for selection of a superintendent based on what they perceived as a candidate who "fits" the district rather than using objective, professional standards as the selection criteria. 2. The most common comparison boards use to consider whom to hire is the tenure of the previous superintendent, 3. School boards have difficulty with an honest clear view of the current condition of their district, often seeing an attractive, good job, even if problems are present. 4. School districts viewed by candidates as having few problems, as well as those districts viewed as "impossible" situations due to board/superintendent relationship problems, have the smallest pool of applicants. 5. School boards do not use established professional standards such as, the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) Standards for School Leaders, or the Educational Leadership Constituent Council Standards, or ELCC, as criteria when selecting a superintendent. The theme of locally elected school boards using vague and subjective criteria for superintendent selection emerged. This criterion was different for each board, but was based on a personal connection forged during the interview process. Objective standards are used to determine those candidates selected for interview. The consultant holds more power over the process in the interview selection stage of the process. Once the interviews begin, the consultant exits the process, allowing the school board to select the candidate. This selection occurs during the interview and is based on subjective traits, such as feeling the selected candidate is a fit or that chemistry exists between the candidate and the board. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]